Cairo: Lafarge Egypt, the leading producer of sustainable building materials in Egypt, recently welcomed a delegation from Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE) at its cement plant in Ain Sokhna. Organized by the Swiss Chamber of Business in Egypt, the visit aims to encourage foreign investment in Egypt and highlight Lafarge Egypt's success as a role model in the building materials industry. The collaboration showcases efforts to strengthen economic ties and attract Swiss investments to contribute to Egypt's growth.

Eng. Najib Ribi, Industrial Sectors Director of Lafarge Egypt and Eng. Adham El-Mahdy, Sustainability Director of Lafarge Egypt & GM of Geocycle Egypt, welcomed Mr. Mehmet Yildirimli, SGE Global Senior Consultant for Africa and Turkey, Eng. Kamal Abdel Malek, President of the Swiss Chamber Board, and Eng. Sara Al Haddad, Executive Director of the Swiss Chamber. Through this visit, Lafarge Egypt aimed to transfer its extensive experience to Swiss investors and motivate them to exploit promising opportunities in the building materials sector.

SGE's visit to Egypt reflects its interest in green investments and promoting sustainable development in the country. During the visit, Lafarge Egypt affirmed its commitment to building a more sustainable future by implementing smarter solutions to greening the production cycle by using eco-friendly fuel, resulting from the innovative waste management solutions by Geocycle Egypt, and fostering sustainable construction through its green products. All these efforts reflect Lafarge's commitment to social and environmental responsibility and enhance its role as a strategic partner in achieving the UN SDGs & a net zero future and promoting the green economy in Egypt.

Mehmet Yildirimli, Senior Consultant for Africa and Turkey at SGE, expressed his contentment at visiting the Lafarge Egypt’s cement plant and praised the company’s achievements in the building materials industry and its efforts towards building a more sustainable future. He praised the company's commitment to implementing innovative solutions to reduce CO2 emissions, stressing on the importance of these efforts in promoting economic and environmental development. He added: "We at the Switzerland Global Enterprise are keen to strengthen cooperation between Switzerland and Egypt in the fields of investment, infrastructure, and sustainability, and we are confident that this visit will contribute to achieving development goals."

The visit of the Switzerland Global Enterprise (SGE) delegation to Egypt came as a positive result of the visit made by Dr. Simone Wyss, CEO of the Foundation, with a delegation from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) headed by Helene Budliger Artieda, State Secretary of Economic Affairs, during their participation in the trade fair “Intra-African Forum 2023 (IATF 2023)”. During the visit, SGE held fruitful discussions on cooperation prospects in Egypt's growing infrastructure sector. The Switzerland Global Enterprise, which plays a major role in promoting Swiss exports and investments and under the auspices of SECO, works in cooperation with the cantons of Switzerland and as a partner with more than 2,000 members of the Swiss Chamber of Commerce (SwissCham), in facilitating successful investment projects between Switzerland and Egypt.

It is worth mentioning that Lafarge Egypt works to enhance environmental sustainability through the production of green building materials through eco-friendly operations. Lafarge Egypt’s producing its green portfolio using clean energy, eco-friendly raw materials, which empowers reaching a sustainable cycle from operations to construction. For example, ECOPlanet, the green cement, reduces carbon emissions by 50 to 60%, and ECOPact, the green concrete, has a carbon footprint 30% to 40% lower than regular concrete.